I passed the accreditation test on mushrooms!

In the comments section of the previous post I mentioned that many accredited pros rave about the ABC exam. Then, a case in point came over the transom, via a LinkedIn notice of a post on the IABC Café website. Communication consultant Mark Schumann, ABC, remembers his accreditation exam in a recollection that's actually more typical than not in its wide-eyed, far-out-man mysticism on the subject.

I excerpt:

I stayed out too late.

The night before I took the accreditation exam—at the US District 6 conference many years ago—I intended to go back to my room and study. ...

But I was at an IABC conference and, well, I stayed out too late.

So, the next morning, as I walked the hallway outside the exam room, I kicked myself for not preparing. And then I remembered something a seasoned ABC had told me, that, 'when you take the exam, all the study won’t make a difference, you either know it or you don’t.' And so, with those words in mind, I walked in, sat down, pulled my chair up to the manual typewriter I would use (yes, manual) and thoroughly enjoyed the next few hours of expressing every passion and thought and idea and conviction I have about this profession we work in. ....

I stayed out too late another evening, a few months later, when I learned I passed. ...

Well, David Wells once said he pitched a no-hitter while drunk and Dock Ellis threw a perfect game on acid.

A call to sober takers of the IABC exam. I know you can't reveal its specific contents—have they changed since Schumann hammered his soul into his Underwood?—but is it really as cosmically stimulating as all this?

If so: I'll take it!

Comments

[Liz Guthridge]

You outdid yourself this time! Too funny.

Next April Fool's Day, let's channel George Plimpton, light some fireworks, play some football, drink, and take the accreditation exam!

Oops maybe not. April Fool's Day is my wedding anniversary so my husband won't want me working....Oh well.

[Robert J Holland, ABC]

Well, I don't get all starry-eyed and mystical about accreditation like some of my IABC friends and fellow ABCs, but I do believe there's value in accreditation. In fact, I believe so much that there's value in it that my ABC is probably the only reason I'm still a member of IABC.

The slow decline of my local chapter (despite valiant efforts of dedicated volunteer leaders to keep it afloat) and a general ambivalence about the association's direction have caused me to rethink membership on more than one dues-notice occasion.

For me, the value of accreditation is two-fold: First, it's an excellent process for evaluating where you are in your profession and either proving to yourself that you have the essential skills and experience or discovering where you might have room to grow. And second, the designation does carry some weight with employers and clients (current and potential).

But, yeah, some folks can get a little carried away with themselves.

[David Murray]

Robert: Yep, right on. There is a sensible path to getting and keeping accreditation, and you've clearly found it, along with many others I know.

Hell, Wilma Mathews is at once the leading accreditation proponent of all time, and she's the most sensible communicator I know.

I'll forward all this to her and see what she says.

—DM

[Wilma Mathews, ABC, IABC Fellow]

Re: Value of accreditation
It's important to keep in mind that in this country (and in many others) there is no government-sanctioned process to validate or determine if a person is qualified to communicate on behalf of an organization. In the (delighted) absence of such a process, IABC (and PRSA) created processes to test/evaluate/validate that its members indeed do have the qualifications, education,training and instinct to effectively and ethically communicate on behalf of their clients/companies.
Both organizations deserve a pat on the back for stepping up to that challenge.
Neither program promises that an ABC or an APR will get you a job. And it's hard for a potential employer to understand what it means unless you tell him/her about the areas of testing and validation you underwent.
Don't like your organization? Then help change and improve it.
Appreciate your ABC or APR? Encourage others to go through the process. You can become an advocate for accreditation without touting the features of the association from which it comes.

[Robert J Holland, ABC]

I am an advocate of accreditation. I believe the process is worthwhile and the designation has value. Wilma also mentions another aspect of accreditation that I failed to mention: ethics. Not only is knowledge of, and adherence to, ethics built into the accreditation processes of both IABC and PRSA, but members of both associations can withdraw accreditation from members who are found to be in violation of their codes of ethics.

As for not liking IABC as much as I used to, I have tried to change and improve it through my service on the executive board, as a former district director and as a two-time chapter president, as well as through various committees and task forces of which I've been a member. Unfortunately, the culture of IABC, in my opinion, has been one of not rocking the boat as opposed to one of open discussion and healthy debate.

[David Murray]

@Wilma: Thanks for weighing in. As I've said, you've been a steadfast and sensible advocate for accreditation for years, and one of the reasons I reluctantly take it seriously.

@Robert: "members of both associations can withdraw accreditation from members who are found to be in violation of their codes of ethics."

Theoretically true, but practically, not so much. Such a revoking has never once happened in the decades that both ethics codes/accreditation programs have been in effect.

[Tim H]

To answer the question about the exam itself, yes, it was not unlike holding a wire connecting a couple of batteries. Full bandwidth output for 4.5 hours, with the oral in the middle. At full speed I was just able to get down enough ideas that I was satisfied with my answers. I understood what my proctor meant when he said, "I won't watch you too closely. You won't have time to cheat." Afterward I was exhausted, but empirical evidence indicated that such a feeling can be cured by applying large amounts of beer internally.

[Robert J Holland, ABC]

David: "Such a revoking has never once happened in the decades that both ethics codes/accreditation programs have been in effect."

Couldn't that also indicate that accredited members work to a high ethical standard and there has been no need to revoke a member's accreditation?

[David Murray]

@Tim: Thanks for this account. Whether ingested before or after the test, booze does seem to be one of the requirements.

"Couldn't that also indicate that accredited members work to a high ethical standard and there has been no need to revoke a member's accreditation?"

Yes, it could; would be an odd correlation, however: All the moral people in the profession go for accreditation? Or, the accreditation process makes participants moral?

Possible, but reminds me vaguely of joke about guy standing on porch waving broom around.

Passerby asks, "What in tarnation?"

Guy sez, "Keeps elephants away."

Passerby: "Why hell, there ain't any elephants within 6,000 miles of here!"

"Works pretty good, doesn't it?"