FIR Interview: IABC Executive Director Chris Sorek

IABC-small(blue)The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) welcomed Chris Sorek as its new executive director effective July 1. (Read the press release.) Sorek’s appointment follows a lengthy search to replace Julie Freeman, ABC, APR, who left the post after 10 years at the helm.

Founded in 1970, IABC provides a professional network of about 15,000 business communication professionals in over 80 countries. Members hold positions in a wide variety of communication positions ranging from public relations and employee communications to public affairs and community relations, employing strategic planning and management skills along with capabilities including writing, editing, photography, video production, and digital communication management.

In this FIR interview, co-hosts Neville Hobson and Shel Holtz talk with Sorek about what he has heard from IABC members, how he envisions the staff and board working together, the key areas of focus for the organization at the outset of his term, his views on membership growth outside of North America and a host of other topics.

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About our Conversation Partner

chrissorekChristopher Sorek has a master’s degree in international marketing and communications and has worked on public information and humanitarian issues in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He started his career as a journalist and editor for newspapers and magazines in the United States. He then turned to internal communication and political action committee activities for a large regional bank before moving to Unisys’s international public relations team. He was asked to join Ogilvy & Mather in 1987, where he headed offices in Taiwan and Singapore and helped develop the agency’s Asia-Pacific network before joining Cohn & Wolfe in New York to lead and manage global corporate clients.

In 2001, Sorek joined the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva as head of communications. He returned to the private sector to work for SAP AG in Germany, De Beers, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development before joining Drinkaware as chief executive in 2008.

Connect with Chris on Twitter: @chrissorek.

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Share your comments or questions about this podcast, or suggestions for future interviews, in the FIR FriendFeed Room. You can also email us at fircomments@gmail.com; call the Comment Line at +1 206 338 7960 (North America), +44 20 3239 9082 (Europe), or Skype: fircomments; comment at Twitter: twitter.com/FIR. You can email your comments, questions and suggestions as MP3 file attachments, if you wish (max. 3 minutes / 5Mb attachment, please!). We’ll be happy to see how we can include your audio contribution in a show.

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This FIR Interview is brought to you with Lawrence Ragan Communications, serving communicators worldwide for 35 years. Information: www.ragan.com.

Podsafe music – On A Podcast Instrumental Mix (MP3, 5Mb) by Cruisebox.

(Cross-posted from For Immediate Release, Shel’s and my podcast blog.)

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Neville Hobson

Social Strategist, Communicator, Writer, and Podcaster with a curiosity for tech and how people use it. Believer in an Internet for everyone. Early adopter (and leaver) and experimenter with social media. Occasional test pilot of shiny new objects. Avid tea drinker.

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