Every now and then, somebody in an audience will point to my name on a PowerPoint slide and ask, “What does the ABC mean?” My favorite answer: “It’s as far as I got.” I always get serious, though, and explain that ABC is the acronym for Accredited Business Communicator, a distinction offered by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC).

I have always believed in the value of accreditation and have no doubt of the benefits I have derived from it. (I earned my accreditation back in 1984.) But IABC has always had difficulty marketing the value and driving up the numbers of accredited members. There are far more APRs, the accreditation mark of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA, although to be fair, PRSA grandfathered all of its members when the program was introduced, effectively making every member as of that time an accredited member.

In an effort to boost the accreditation program and increase the ranks of the accredited, IABC’s accreditation board has put Ned Lundquist, ABC, in charge of marketing. Lundquist—an active member from the Washington, DC area—has set some lofty goals, including 2,006 accredited members by 2006. (Currently, there are well fewer than 1,000.) Lundquist explains the program and its value in a brief interview conducted by Neville Hobson on his blog. Somehow, the conversation also managed to include beer, but it’s still worth your time.

IABC has information on accreditation.