Abuzz with Activity.

This article reports that at the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)'s annual International Conference in June 2005 in Washington D.C., 1,388 communicators from around the world gathered to better understand the trends and issues facing them. The nearly 100 presenters did not disappoint, stimulating a shared learning environment in which participants were both challenged and validated. A few weeks before the conference, IABC Chair Warren Bickford, shared his personal top 10 list of concerns at the IABC Cafe, Bickford's blog. Conference sessions covered many of these issues, leaving participants with much to consider and even more to act upon. Bickford's halfway spot on his top 10 list is cerebral, the democratization of information, or the role communicators have today in the gathering, packaging and disseminating of information. Ethics and governance issues were heatedly discussed at the mock trial of a communicator who breached the association's Code of Ethics, though the lessons learned were clearly based in reality. New work arrangements, increasingly diverse workforces, and ongoing and emerging social and cultural issues are another reality for many communicators.