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Human rights leader address conference audience.


Stephen Lewis
This article is about the Canadian politician and broadcaster. For other people named Steve Lewis or Stephen Lewis, see Steve Lewis. Stephen Henry Lewis should not be confused with Stephen Mark Lewis who is a United Nations conference interpreter.
, one of Canada's most respected commentators on social issues, international development and human rights, will deliver the general-session address at IABC's 2006 International Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia British Columbia, province (2001 pop. 3,907,738), 366,255 sq mi (948,600 sq km), including 6,976 sq mi (18,068 sq km) of water surface, W Canada. Geography
, on 6 June.

Lewis, the director of The Stephen Lewis Foundation The Stephen Lewis Foundation is an organization founded by Stephen Lewis that assists mostly AIDS and HIV-related grassroots projects in Africa. Though on some occasions, the foundation has provided larger projects with money, it mostly gives funds to small, frontline groups and , which is dedicated to easing the impact of HIV/AIDS in Africa The HIV/AIDS epidemics spreading through the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa are highly varied. Although it is not correct to speak of a single African epidemic, Africa is without doubt the region most affected by the virus. , has been a special United Nations envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa since 2001. He is also a commissioner for the World Health Organization's Commission on the Social Determinants of Health Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions under which people live which determine their health. Virtually all major diseases are primarily determined by specific exposures to these conditions. . Last year, Time named him one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World," and in 2003 Maclean's chose him as its inaugural Canadian of the Year.

From 1995 to 1999, Lewis was deputy executive director of UNICEF UNICEF (y`nĭsĕf'), the United Nations Children's Fund, an affiliated agency of the United Nations.  at its global head-quarters in New York City New York City: see New York, city.
New York City

City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S.
, acting as a passionate spokesperson for the agency's advocacy for children, especially in the developing world. In 1997, he was appointed by the Organization of African Unity Organization of African Unity (OAU), former international organization, established 1963 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by 37 independent African nations to promote unity and development; defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of members; eradicate all forms of  to a panel of eminent personalities to investigate the genocide in Rwanda. Lewis was the Canadian ambassador to the U.N. from 1984 through 1988, during which time he chaired such groundbreaking committees as the Five-Year U.N. Programme on African Economic Recovery and the first International Conference on Climate Change.

This conference session will offer a unique glimpse into the mind of a passionate visionary who has dedicated his life to improving the human condition.

TJ Larkin, whose presentation at the 2005 International Conference in Washington, D.C., brought a standing ovation and much discussion in the months since, has been named this year's closing generalsession presenter. Larkin will speak on 7 June about "Communicating Big Change."

Got soul?

The following is an excerpt from Writing and Editing the Internal Publication: Delivering Employee Communications with Impact, Integrity and Style by Ron Shewchuk, ABC ABC
 in full American Broadcasting Co.

Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928.
, MC, new from the IABC IABC International Association of Business Communicators
IABC Indo-Americans for Better Community
 Knowledge Centre. The mark your calendar book is available at www.iabc.com/publications.

The word soul is generally not associated with large organizations. We don't say things like "Microsoft's really got soul" or "The federal government came out with a really soulful response to that issue." In fact, we often use the word soul in the opposite sense, referring to big, soulless soul·less  
adj.
Lacking sensitivity or the capacity for deep feeling.



soulless·ly adv.
 institutions or how companies can be soul-destroying places.

This view goes back at least 200 years, when Britain's chancellor at the time, Baron Thurlow Baron Thurlow, of Thurlow in the County of Suffolk, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1792 for the lawyer and politician Edward Thurlow, with remainder to his younger brothers and the heirs male of their bodies. , wondered how one could "ever expect a corporation to have a conscience, when it has no soul to be damned, and no body to be kicked."

But what is a soul?

Rabbi and author Harold Kushner said, "The soul is not a physical entity, but instead refers to everything about us that is not physical--our values, memories, identity, sense of humour Noun 1. sense of humour - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor"
sense of humor, humor, humour
." Apart from the sense of humour, I think most organizations today would have a set of values, an institutional memory and a distinct identity.

According to jazzman Wynton Marsalis, "The soul gives us resilience--an essential quality since we constantly have to rebound from hardship." So the soul is not just something you have, but something you need to survive.

Novelist and educator Erica Jong said, "The principal thing in the world is to keep the soul afloat." In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke"
put differently
, our soul is worth maintaining and preserving.

So, a soul is the essence of a person or an organization's values, memories [and] identity. The next question is, Can an individual soul and an organizational soul coexist and strengthen one another?

Management guru Charles Handy says yes. He says that "a match of corporate and individual souls releases those 'E' factors [energy, enthusiasm, effort, excitement and excellence]" and "without that match, work and life are dull."

Which brings us to an important point: If your organization wants to be successful, it needs to have a strong soul-one that is consistent with the values of today's employees.

The power of PR

"One of the great myths about public relations public relations, activities and policies used to create public interest in a person, idea, product, institution, or business establishment. By its nature, public relations is devoted to serving particular interests by presenting them to the public in the most  is that PR, driven as it is by relationships and creativity is impossible to measure. In fact, public relations in today's business environment is as much science as it is art--and its contribution can be measured." So writes Mark Weiner in his forthcoming book from IABC, Unleashing the Power of PR (Jossey-Bass, June 2006). The following excerpt describes how public relations and marketing professionals can learn to speak the same language--and build better programs as a result.

As marketers gain more control over marketing intelligence as a way to better understand market conditions, more information becomes available on the relative abilities of the whole range of agents in the marketing mix--including PR--to drive sales. There are numerous examples of these marketing mix analyses that demonstrate how in every case public relations delivers among the very best values, not only on par with advertising but also frequently much better than advertising, promotions, coupons, special events, etc. The implications for PR spending are enormous: A shift of only a few percentage points of TV advertising dollars into the average public relations program would effectively double the PR budget.

So why don't PR professionals and marketing executives use the available scientific tools to assess and strengthen PR programs? Unfortunately, executives don't know Don't know (DK, DKed)

"Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party.
 enough about PR to ask for the proper measures, and the hands-on practitioners don't know enough about what's available in the field of market research that they can apply to PR. For example, PR professionals generally fall back on "volume of press clippings" when asked for a key measure of PR effectiveness. Yet numerous surveys show that the executives to whom PR people report consider "volume of press clippings" the least important measure of effectiveness. It doesn't have to be this way. PR professionals and business executives do not have to talk past each other. They can learn to speak a common language based on measurable business results.

mark your calendar

20 March-1 April Online course (Ithaca College): ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot).  and Beyond

21-23 March Conference (Chicago): Strategic Communication Management Summit

22 March Web seminar: Effective Consulting: Becoming a Trusted Adviser

6 April Teleseminar: New Techniques for Engaging Employees

17-29 April Online course (Ithaca College): Online Learning and Collaboration

26 April Web seminar: Negotiation Deadlock: Conflict Resolution and the Communicator

27 April Teleseminar: Planning for Success: Writing the Strategic Communication Plan

27-28 April Conference (Chicago): Corporate Reputation Summit

11 May Teleseminar: Unleash Your Inner Leader

24 May Web seminar: Powerful Presentations: The Secrets, Strategies and Skills

4-7 June Conference (Vancouver, British Columbia): IABC International Conference

For more information about any of these events, go to www.iabc.com/education.
COPYRIGHT 2006 International Association of Business Communicators
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:inbox: IABC NEWS & EVENTS; Stephen Lewis at International Association of Business Communicators
Publication:Communication World
Geographic Code:1CANA
Date:Mar 1, 2006
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