iQ 360®

iQ 360 is celebrating our first year on Hawaii Business Magazine's Best Places to Work in Hawaii list and our third year on Ragan Communications and PR Daily's Top Places to Work in Communications list 🥳 We work hard and play hard, recognizing the importance of finding time to have fun, celebrating shared successes and laughing — a lot. Thank you to the iQers, clients, vendors, collaborators and friends who have made iQ 360 such a great place to work. Enjoy this glimpse into our award-winning culture.

Congratulations to iQer Rhianna (Taniguchi) Chung for joining the U.S.-Japan Council’s 2024 Emerging Leaders Program (ELP)! In its 15th year, ELP is dedicated to cultivating and empowering the next generation of Japanese American leaders through leadership skills training and building meaningful connections. This year's ELP participants attended USJC's Annual Conference in Tokyo, where our founder and CEO, Lori Teranishi moderated a panel on critical challenges in driving global sustainability progress with Tomohiro (Tomo) Ishikawa (MUFG), Michael Kobori (he/him) (Starbucks), and Swetha Ramdas (Amazon). We're excited to see Lori and Rhianna continue to engage in the USJC community to build a brighter future for the US & Japan together.

Congratulations to iQer Amy Higa for participating in PROI Worldwide’s inaugural Ignite Pitch Competition🔥! As a rising star at iQ 360, Amy was selected for the eight-week program, where she received virtual training from PROI mentors and worked with a team of her peers from agencies across the country to develop and present a cross-disciplinary, integrated communications strategy. While her team's proposal didn't win first place, it received high scores for audience targeting, messaging strategy, presentation and campaign creativity. We're excited to see Amy's continued professional development and look forward to more opportunities with PROI's worldwide network of leading communications firms. Congratulations to the winning team and thank you for sharing your insights at the PROI Americas Summit in Miami!

Last week, after months of unrelenting media analysis and speculation, we at iQ 360® thought it would be useful to gather some of the most well-informed people we know to talk about what the 2024 election results will mean for businesses. Not surprisingly, there was no shortage of insight from this group, which included David McCulloch, Nicole Kenyon, Claire Holmes, Kyra Whitten, my colleagues Lori Teranishi, John Onoda, Eliot Dobris and many other bright lights.

iQers Joshua Shon and Ian Tsang recently had the opportunity to give back and support the next generation of professionals through several events sponsored by UH Manoa's student business clubs! ✨ Josh attended the mock interview event hosted by the American Marketing Association UH Mānoa, offering valuable feedback and guidance to help them refine their interview techniques. He enjoyed assisting students in preparing for real-world scenarios, ensuring they left better equipped for success in their future careers. Ian participated in Professional Interaction Night (PIN) for BEST at UH Mānoa and International Business Organization 💚 He enjoyed seeing the students’ ambition and eagerness to learn as they engaged with local professionals, gained industry insights and built relationships that could lead to future opportunities 🤝

Despite the unknowns that a Trump presidency brings — and there are many unknowns — one thing is certain: There will be disruption. Read insights from Russ Yarrow, founding partner at Centerpoint Advisors, for post-election takeaways and lessons learned from both campaigns.

Businesses that struggle to execute strategy may not be fully leveraging their communications function. Visit our blog for insights from principals Steve Astle and John Onoda on why elevating corporate communicators is essential to achieving business goals.

iQers Tani, Ian and Rayen recently attended Ad 2 Hawaii’s pau hana at Aloha Beer — a night of networking, food and drinks with other marketing, advertising and media professionals 🤙 Tani currently serves as Ad 2's communications director, public relations, where she works to amplify the organization’s visibility, communicate key initiatives, engage with the community, and support public service efforts. #iQersInTheWild

I was honored to moderate a panel with four exceptional Japanese and American leaders in sustainability at the U.S.-Japan Council Annual Conference in Tokyo last week. Michael Kobori (he/him), chief sustainability officer at Starbucks, Swetha Ramdas sustainability leader for Amazon’s APAC region, Kenji Hasuwa, CEO of Obayashi Corporation and Tomohiro (Tomo) Ishikawa chief regulatory engagement officer and head of global sustainability at MUFG inspired us with their stories and moved us to action. None of them started their careers in sustainability but all of them have committed to addressing climate change and equity in ways that sparked ideas, big and small, that we will take back to our own companies.

Lori Teranishi reflected iQ 360's deep engagement in environmental issues by moderating a panel discussion of world-class ESG leaders yesterday in Tokyo at the annual meeting of the U.S.-Japan Council. Afterwards, she spent a little time with USJC President and CEO Audrey Yamamoto and panelist Michael Kobori, chief sustainability officer at Starbucks.