Out today at the IABC conference; getting in touch with my inner Abick

Not being a blogger with a laptop in a speed holster熔r even in my briefcase悠'm writing this in advance of the IABC International Conference in Washington, D.C.

I'm covering the show for The Ragan Report.

I've probably been to eight or 10 of the last 13 IABC conferences, and here's what I can tell you about this event, sight unseen:

There will be much pomp and circumstance. In conference materials and on PowerPoint slides, the word "fellow" will always be capitalized. (IABC honors longtime contributors to the organization by calling them an "IABC Fellow." I always thought, "IABC Chap" would be a little more novel. Or, in step with the times, "IABC Dude.")

Also: There will be many people with name tags with little ribbons on them that scroll halfway down to their belt. It's like a military costume for a general in a third-world country. I never know what these ribbons mean悠 am not even an IABC Third Wheel傭ut I know this: the more of them there are, the more likely the wearer is to be an "ABC":

That's, an Accredited Business Communicator.

Speechwriter Dan Danbom earned his ABC many years ago. He says the designation has not won him any professional gain or recognition of any kind, except once at a business function when somebody squinted at the ABC on his nametag and called him, "Mr. Abick."

Far from criticizing IABC and its members for going in for this goofy Moose Lodge stuff, I find it comforting預s close to tribal bonding as the disparate members of the comparatively disorganized communication profession ever get.

More when I get back from my party with a thousand people, all named Abick.