Our Chapter History
In 2000, as IABC/Atlanta prepared to
celebrate its 30th anniversary, we assumed that the association had but
three decades of service to Atlanta-based communication professionals.
In fact, the organization that became IABC/Atlanta, the Atlanta House
Publications Editors Association, was founded on December 15, 1942!
As
membership grew both within and outside of Atlanta, the organization
first changed its name to the Georgia Industrial Editors Association,
then to the Southeastern Editors Association. In 1946, it became
affiliated with the International Council of Industrial Editors.
By
1955, the Atlanta ICIE chapter membership stood at 74 members, paying
annual dues of $10 each. They distributed a mimeographed monthly
newsletter with the stunningly mundane title, "Newsletter." Earliest
members included editors of publications from Atlanta corporate
stalwarts Lockheed and Delta Air Lines.
The chapter flourished
as the communications profession in Atlanta grew. In 1970, the ICIE
merged with the American Association of Industrial Editors to form the
modern International Association of Business Communicators, or IABC,
with IABC/Atlanta as one of the new organization's first chartered
chapters.