One of  my  favourite conversations this year was on Blog Radio in New York City at the IABC annual conference. 

Here Wynell Gregorio (marketing manager at CLICO and VP of Professional Development)   and I talk about how we feel about the tremendous success that is IABC T&T, a Chapter I founded along with ten other terrific business communicators. 

Listen in, it's informal and fun, plus we get to jibe   Giselle La Ronde West, our incoming President, who stayed in the background passing  us tips and notes to us to make our interview stronger. 

It was a great IABC T&T team moment!

If you don't like over stimulation, then never walk the streets of Manhatan on a July afternoon. The sights and sounds will keel you over. I love it though: the tourists taking pictures, the restaurants with their 'summer is here open doors', and the sculpted bodies on display.

This afternoon's offering included a young woman in a pink tutu and purple platfom heels pretending to take a taxi, a man dressed as a butler displaying his cat, 2 dogs, 1 rabbit and 3 hampsters all lying quietly side by side.  And of course there was Robert John Burck better known as Naked Cowboy. Burck is a prominent fixture of New York City's Times Square. His routine consists of playing his guitar wearing only cowboy boots, a hat, and a pair of briefs, with the guitar strategically placed to give the illusion of nudity.  Burck is now so popular he has become a brand with a slew of products, an Elvis Presley look alike for a manager, and a fee charged for every picture you take of him.

You’ve got to love New York!

Marriott CEO, J.W. Marriott told many stories at the opening session of IABC International conference in New York. He gave the significantly large audience anecdotes about his parents, his golden retriever, his family and his blog.

In the latter case, the hotel chain magnate's blog was the reason why he was named IABC’s 2008 Excel Award winner, an honour bestowed on an executive who is using innovative, open communications to propel his/her organisation forward.

"Blogs are a cool way to tell stories,” Marriott said. And while 2 years ago the hotel owner had no idea what the social media  tool was, he soon got the hang of it after his Executive VP Communications demonstrated the effective ways blogs could be used to communicate with employees and customers in over 68 countries.

Beside being cool, Marriot was specific about the metrics generated from blogging.

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IABC T&T's VP of Professional Development, Wynell Gregorio, and I sat for a 30 minute interview today with Blog Radio's John Haven.