The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) has revisited the notion of advocacy every few years for a long time. I remember serving on a three-person committee about a decade or so ago trying to devise a means by which the association could serve more of an advocacy role. Nothing much came of it, though.

IABC is not alone in the absence of advocacy from the portfolio of services it offers members; none of the communiations-related associations do much of it. Other associations do. I remember speaking with an officer of an association of Radio, TV, and Film professionals. That group’s board had sent a delegation to Washington to lobby against new rules that would put restrictions on the use of contract employees, a staple of the video production world. I was jealous that my association wasn’t set up to do something like that for me and my members.

Well, IABC is addressing advocacy again, only this time it seems to be going somewhere. The association today launches the The IABC Advocacy Commons, a blog designed to open the dialogue about advocacy to the entire membership (and beyond) as a work group headed by Pennsylvania-based communicator Michael Zimet works to flesh out the concept. In the blog’s opening post, Michael writes:

Advocacy is about promoting the communications profession and raising our profile among such audiences as business leaders and organization staffs. It???s also about the role communicators can play in addressing a broad spectrum of social, economic, ethical and professional issues.

In an email to me, Michael notes that additional posts will be forthcoming over the next few days as fodder for members and other to react to. Advocacy will be the focus of an article in the March/April issue of IABC’s Communication World magazine. Focus groups were conducted among IABC chapter and region leaders at the recently-concluded Leadership Institute in San Diego. “We’re getting new ideas and support every day, and there’s a real sense of excitement about it,” Michael told me. “So we’re now entering the period of not only coming out of our self-imposed closet, but engaging, building support and ideas, and making things happen.  Still a long way to go, but we’re gaining both traction and momentum.”

Michael will most likely be a guest interview subject on an upcoming “For Immediate Release.” In the meantime, if having an association advocate on behalf of your profession seems like a desirable asset, head on over to the Advocacy Commons and start sharing your ideas and thoughts.