Association for Business Communication

Organizational Structure

The ABC is an international organization, divided into eight regional divisions, each with their own separate academic conferences. The regions are Europe; Asia and Pacific Rim; Caribbean and Central America and five North American regions (Canada, Southwest US, Eastern US, Southeast US and Midwest US). The ABC’s headquarters is in New York City. Each year the entire membership meets in the International Convention in the October or November. Every Spring, two regional conferences are held, one of the European region and one of the North American regions. The Asia and Pacific Rim region holds a conference every two years. At the International Convention and at the regional conferences, members come together to share research in business communication, participate in workshops, network.

A Board of Directors and an Executive Committee of five members leads the ABC. The Board of Directors is directly elected with a Vice President elected from each region and 12 directors at large, with staggered terms. Executive Committee consists of an unelected permanent position of Executive Director and four elected members. The members of the Executive Committee serve for four years in rotating capacity, beginning as Second Vice President in the first year, then First Vice President the next, President the next and Past President the last year on the committee. The organization as a whole elects the Second Vice President position from among candidates on the Board of Directors. This structure allows for continuity while at the same time.

The current Executive Director of the ABC is Dr. Robert J. Myers of Baruch College CUNY in New York City, where he is also chair of the Communication Studies Department and Director of Baruch’s MA program in Corporate Communication. He has served as Executive Director since 1994.

For 2005-2006, the Executive Committee consisted of President Dr. Marsha Bayless (Stephen F. Austin University - Nacogdoches, Texas), First Vice President Dr..Jackie Harrison (Unitec Institute of Technology – Auckland, New Zealand), Second Vice President Dr. Melinda Knight (George Washington University) and Immediate Past President Dr. Randolph T. Barker (Virginia Commonwealth University).

History

The ABC was founded in 1936, beginning with a modest membership of 72 members, all but one from the United States (the only exception being from Canada). The organization, based at the University of Illinois was then named the “Association of College Teachers of Business Writers.� The next year, 1937, that name changed to the “American Business Writing Association.�

By the 1960’s, the field had grown considerably and became heavily interested in areas well beyond business writing (such as oral presentations, negotiations, and nonverbal communication among others). In 1967, the Board of Directors voted to change the name of the organization to the “American Business Communication Association� to reflect this change.

By the late 1970’s, as the membership of the organization grew to include more member from outside the Americas and as the focus of research expanded heavily into the fields of intercultural communication and cross-cultural business communication practice, the term “American� became increasingly inaccurate of both the membership and focus of the organization. In 1985, the Board of Directors voted to change the name to its current “Association for Business Communication.�

In 1990, the ABC moved its headquarters from Illinois first to the University of North Texas (from 1990-1994) and then to its current location at Baruch College CUNY in New York City (from 1994 to the present).

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