This year, the department of business communication will hold the ninth annual Shapiro/Rouse lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m. in the Rockland banquet hall. The speaker this year comes highly recommended by the lecture’s namesake, Ronald M. Shapiro; his name is James (Jim) Dale.

Previously co-authoring two books with Shapiro, Dale is currently the co-principal of Richlin/Dale, and according to the company’s website, “before forming Richlin/Dale LLC with Gar Richlin in August of 2005, Jim had his own marketing consultancy, working with a variety of businesses including automotive aftermarket, internet commerce and marketing, law firms, banks, magazines, telecommunications, and venture capital companies.”

Prior to his marketing consultancy, Dale was the former president of international advertising agency W.B. Doner. He also created an internationally distributed line of humorous greeting cards in addition to his writing and co-authoring of several books. His work includes articles, radio, television, sports, technology, media relations and marketing.

Almost 10 years ago, Shapiro endowed money to the department in his name along with that of then-department chair Chip Rouse. The money is tapped yearly to bring in a local business person to speak at the annual lecture.

Shapiro himself gave the first lecture and ever since has tried to be among the guests. The speakers typically have a background in marketing, public relations, event planning, management, advertising or similar topics; however, attendees are not limited only to business communication majors.

The department invites each discipline to attend the lecture because it connects to a diverse audience. This explains why the Shapiro lecture has a solid attendance each year, between 80-110 people, according to Rouse. This year’s talk will focus on the importance of strong writing skills.

The Shapiro/Rouse lecture is typically held on the same date as the student interns in the major display their internship posters. This year, there are 22 interns exhibiting their posters, explaining their internship experience and talking informally about their responsibilities as intern in the back half of the Rockland banquet room from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. The lecture will proceed shortly after the poster sessions.

For more information on the Shapiro lecture contact Chip Rouse, the associate professor of business communication.