education

IABC Business Writing Conference

Learn how to write clearly and persuasively.

Chicago Business Writing Conference Program

Browse the program below.

Schedule at a glance

Thursday, 7 May

Friday, 8 May

Conference Program

Thursday, 7 May

8-8:30 a.m.
Registration and Continental Breakfast

8:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Transparent writing: Learn to think clearly and write what you mean
Information is plentiful in business. But how you communicate that information is critical. Communication professionals must continually turn information into knowledge to help their colleagues and clients make smart decisions. Whether you’re a seasoned wordsmith or you struggle through every sentence, you’ll gain the confidence and skills you need to communicate clearly and persuasively. Best of all, you’ll walk out of the session with a fresh perspective and renewed enthusiasm for writing.

In this lively presentation, you will learn:

• The most important goal in writing (it’s not what you think)
• The No. 1 question on every reader’s mind (you’re thinking it right now)
• Why thinking about tomatoes will make you a better writer—guaranteed

John Sturtevant has taught business people how to think clearly and write what they mean for over twenty years. He co-developed and taught a business writing curriculum at Harvard Business School for five years. Sturtevant was also a professor of business communication at The European School of Economics in Rome. Prior to this, Sturtevant was vice president of marketing for an Internet software company and co-founded SturtevantFishbourne, an award-winning, full-service advertising and marketing agency in Boston. In 1985, as senior producer at AVW, Houston’s premier multimedia production company, he created programs designed to motivate employees, and simplify complex ideas.

12:15–1:30 p.m.
Keynote Luncheon:

Integrating your print and online vehicles
The death of print has been greatly exaggerated. Smart companies and communicators are using print to educate and engage their audiences, as well as push people to their online content. Your print and online tools should be working together to help you achieve your communication goals.

In this practical session filled with real-life case studies, you’ll learn how to:

• Decide which content belongs in print and which belongs online
• Switch gears and create the right kind of content for the right kind of vehicle
• Integrate all of your communication tools—print, e-mail, blogs, podcasts, web sites, intranets and video

Steve Crescenzo of Crescenzo Communications. He has helped thousands of communicators in North America, South America and Europe improve their print, electronic, face-to-face and social media communication efforts. Crescenzo has twice been rated the No. 1 speaker at IABC’s World Conference.

1:30–2:30 p.m.
Select and attend one of two breakout sessions:

Workshop One / Effective communication in a 2.0 world
The online environment has changed dramatically in the past two years. The old mantra of “people don’t read online” simply isn’t true anymore. People do read online . . . but they also want to listen to audio, watch video and interact with the content. Creating content in this new online world involves more than just writing words—it’s about changing the way you think about your content.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

• Create 2.0 content that people will actually pay attention to
• Use multimedia vehicles and social media to draw more readers to your site—and keep them there
• Change your writing style—and help executives change their writing styles—to reach the 2.0 audience

Steve Crescenzo of Crescenzo Communications. He has helped thousands of communicators in North America, South America and Europe improve their print, electronic, face-to-face and social media communication efforts. Crescenzo has twice been rated the No. 1 speaker at IABC’s World Conference.

Workshop Two / Fine-tune your editing skills
All editors need some sharpening of their editing pencils from time to time, and that includes you. In this hands-on session, you'll do some micro- and macro-editing and review seven (and only seven) reasons to change copy.

In this session, you will review:

• Eight "always" rules for commas and three steps for cutting copy
• The relationship of sentence structure to punctuation rules
• The fundamentals of coaching writers

Don Ranly, Ph.D., IABC Fellow, is professor emeritus of journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism where he taught for 32 years. An author of articles and books on writing and editing, he has conducted more than 950 seminars for individual newspapers and magazines, corporations, associations and organizations. He has led seminars at 26 IABC international conferences and for 36 IABC chapters.

2:45–3:45 p.m.
Select and attend one of two breakout sessions:

Workshop One / Writing like “you’re in the know”
Developing content that hits home with the consumer requires knowing your product/service as well as your target—inside and out. Attend this session to participate in a hands-on learning experience where a case study exercise will help you write content for five different channels—advertising, public relations, promotions, direct marketing and selling—providing you with a variety of practical learning tools.

You will learn how to:

• Use situational analysis to position your product/service
• Establish realistic objectives and measurement for the content
• Write to a specific audience and channel

Mary Hills, ABC, is a diverse business-to-business marketing and communication professional that combines basic blocking and tackling management skills with industry best practices to give company leaders the ability to see where they are going and track progress in their marketing and communication activities. Her experience in Fortune 100’s as well as small to middle market firms gives Hills the unique ability to design programs that fit the organization. With a Six Sigma green belt, Hills serves as director of marketing on the IABC accreditation council and as IABC/Chicago director of strategy.

Workshop Two / What’s new in newsletter writing?
Isn't it time to re-tool and re-fuel your newsletter engines? Does your newsletter still look like it did before the Internet? Have you become more visual, accessible and interactive? Are you serving readers with useful information in the most usable way? Whether you're putting out an internal newsletter, marketing an external one or creating an online edition, attend this session to pick up some newsletter tips that will guarantee you better results.

This session will address how to:

• Assure your newsletter is useful, usable and gets used
• Grab readers with bright headlines and breakouts
• Incorporate a table of contents, and understand why it’s important, even in newsletters

Don Ranly, Ph.D., IABC Fellow, is professor emeritus of journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism where he taught for 32 years. An author of articles and books on writing and editing, he has conducted more than 950 seminars for individual newspapers and magazines, corporations, associations and organizations. He has led seminars at 26 IABC international conferences and for 36 IABC chapters.

3:45–4 p.m.
Coffee Break

4–5 p.m.
Select and attend one of two breakout sessions:

Workshop One / Writing for the media
Breaking through cluttered inboxes to secure traditional media coverage requires writing that is smart, targeted and compelling. While having great contacts and strong relationships matter the most, the message must be clear and newsworthy.

By combining case studies, insight and interaction, this session will teach attenders how to:

• Write pitches and releases that connect
• Craft the right message for the right time
• Resist bad habits that get in the way of great headlines

Shawn M. Kahle, APR, is managing director at Arment Dietrich Inc. With more than 25 years of senior-level public relations and communication expertise, Kahle’s media relations experience is extensive in multiple sectors including retail, nonprofit, telecommunications, real estate, trade shows, hospitality and consumer events. Kahle currently is on the public relations faculty at Loyola University in Chicago, and previously was a lecturer at Wayne State University in Detroit. Kahle serves as a board member of PRSA Chicago.

Workshop Two / Writing the interview
To write a compelling business interview for a publication, some critical components need to be in place. In this session, CW editor Natasha Nicholson will explore the development and use of a content plan that helps you focus on the essentials. She will also address the preparation required to produce a clean and workable transcript.

You’ll learn:

• Why live interviews often produce the best copy
• How to turn a raw interview transcript into a first-rate article that maintains the voice of your subject
• Strategies for streamlining copy by identifying key messages and removing unnecessary passages
• Ways to avoid the approval process taking over your copy

Natasha Nicholson currently serves as the vice president of publishing and research at IABC, as well as the executive editor of Communication World magazine and its online supplement, CW Bulletin. Throughout her career, she has conducted and edited numerous interviews with high-level executives working for prominent organizations.

Friday, 8 May

8–8:30 a.m.
Continental Breakfast

8:30–11:30 a.m.
Morning Workshop:

Fire up your creativity to fire up your writing
If you’re not filling your life with creativity, you’ll keep filling your writing with the same old ideas and slants. Our communication becomes predictable, lifeless and, well, boring. In fact, life becomes pretty boring. This workshop will help you ignite creativity to recharge your writing and life.

You’ll discover how to:

• Seek fresh inspiration
• Break out of ruts and turn off the Negative News Network in your mind
• Brainstorm better—solo or with a team

Sam Harrison has more than 20 years of experience in creative communication, including brand communication, product innovation, promotions, direct marketing, event marketing, brand licensing, affinity marketing and consumer catalogs. He is an instructor of creativity workshops, creative writing and persuasive writing at Portfolio Center, a graduate-studies program specializing in creative brand communications. Harrison is the author of two books, Idea Spotting: Where to Find Your Next Great Idea and Zing! Five Steps and 101 Tips for Creativity on Command.

12 p.m.
Networking Luncheon

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